Thirty years on, the State Coroner will hold an inquest into the death
of Brian Peters, one of five Australian-based journalists killed in Balibo
in East Timor during the Indonesian invasion.

This comes after five previous inconclusive Australian inquiries and
one UN-led investigation into the events of October 16, 1975. But the
Coroners Court was told new documents and witnesses that have recently
come to light warranted an inquest.

Rodney Lewis, the lawyer for Mr Peters's sister, Maureen Tolfree, said
the decision to hold an inquest provided an opportunity to discover the
truth, "something our Government has been unable to do to the
satisfaction of most observers".

Mr Peters, a Channel Nine cameraman, and his fellow journalists Greg
Shackleton, Tony Stewart, Gary Cunningham and Malcolm Rennie were in East
Timor to report on the Indonesian invasion of the former Portuguese
colony.

It is believed they were killed while trying to surrender to advancing
Indonesian forces, but it is unclear whether they died in crossfire or
were murdered.

It is also suspected that the governments in Jakarta and Canberra
covered up the incident.

But the NSW Coroner, John Abernethy, said he would not conduct an
inquest into "events in 1975 to do with the government at the
time".

"I'm looking at whether Mr Peters was in fact murdered and if so
how and who by," he said.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Richard Cogswell, SC, said in his
submission to the coroner the report by the UN Transitional Administration
in East Timor had located four or five witnesses.

One, Tomas de Aquino Goncalves, had said a man he believed to be Mr
Peters was shot by General Yunus Yosfiah, subsequently an Indonesian
government minister. He said Mr Peters had stood in front of three of his
colleagues outside a house with his hands raised in "an obvious
gesture of surrender".

Mr Cogswell's submission said this suggested Mr Peters was shot
"in circumstances that suggest little other than murder", but
warned the statement differs from the account of other witnesses.

The UN report had suggested three men, including Mr Yosfiah, be
arrested, but East Timorese authorities have told the court no
prosecutions were proceeding.

Mr Cogswell warned an inquest may be costly and limited by the time
that has passed. It was also unclear if witnesses were still alive and
would travel to NSW.

"It is highly unlikely that anyone found to be responsible for the
death of Mr Peters will be brought to justice in any jurisdiction,"
the submission said.

The submission for Mrs Tolfree said that even if the families of those
killed could not get justice, they were entitled to the facts.

"Given the inadequacies of the previous inquiries into the deaths
there is all the more reason from a public interest perspective … to
ascertain as far as can be the circumstances which gave rise to the
deaths," it said.

INCONCLUSIVE REPORTS

Previous inquiries

Oct 1975 Johnson inquiry, by third secretary of Australian embassy in
Jakarta

Apr 1976 Taylor report, by Australian embassy officials

Jun 1996 First report by Tom Sherman, QC

Jan 1999 Second Sherman report

Sep 2001 Blick report, by inspector- general of intelligence and
security Bill Blick

AN INQUEST opened in Australia yesterday to examine new revelations
about an incident in which a Scottish journalist and his four colleagues
died in East Timor 30 years ago.

Renfrewshire-born television reporter Malcolm Rennie, 28, was one of
five newsmen killed while reporting from the country on the eve of
Indonesian occupation in 1975.

Investigators and the Indonesian government said the five were caught
in crossfire between Indonesian troops and members of the East Timorese
resistance movement in the western town of Balibo. This version of events
was contradicted by witnesses who said the men were deliberately targeted.

In Australia yesterday, John Abernethy, the New South Wales coroner,
opened an inquest into the death of Brian Peters, one of the five killed.

The hearing follows a long fight by Mr Peter's sister, Maureen Tolfree,
now living in Australia, who was not satisfied with the official
explanation of what happened to the journalists, known as the "Balibo
Five".

Ms Tolfree's lawyer, Robert Dubler, said the hearing would almost
certainly travel to East Timor to see where the group died and to hear
from what he believed were new eyewitnesses.

Mr Dubler said that although the inquest could only focus on Mr Peter's
death, it should also shed light on the deaths of Mr Rennie and the other
three journalists who died on October 16, 1975.